QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Fort Irwin, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Fort Irwin in the 24 hours to 4:02 am PST (12:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 103 km (64 mi) W, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fort Irwin

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south of Fort Irwin, CA, at 1:30 am PDT on 29 May 2020 (08:30 UTC), 4.5 km deep.

USGS: 14km S of Fort Irwin, CA

1:30 am PDT, May 29, 2020 · · 4.5 km deep · released about 5.9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Fort Irwin Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Bernardino County 54 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
1:30 am PDT on 29 May 2020 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south of Fort Irwin, CA · earthquakes near Fort Irwin
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
4.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Bernardino County, 54 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Manix fault, 20 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2079 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Fort Irwin, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2020-01-25 — about 43,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.5 The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 20km ENE of Barstow, California · 23 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 46 km E of Barstow, California · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 26km WNW of Ludlow, CA · 42 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 27km S of Fort Irwin, CA · 14 km SSW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.1378, -116.6618. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Bernardino County, CA 54 km (33 mi) SE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.3 20km NW of Ludlow, CA
  2. 2.6 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
  3. 1.8 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
  4. 1.7 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  5. 2.4 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
  6. 2.2 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  7. 1.6 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  8. 3.5 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  9. 2.0 18km SSE of Fort Irwin, CA
  10. 1.9 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  11. 1.8 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  12. 2.2 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
  13. 2.6 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
  14. 2.4 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
  15. 1.6 23km NW of Ludlow, CA

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.